Browsing: August 18

A Brief History On August 18, 1976, Soldiers of the North Korean Army used an ax to murder two US Army officers that were overseeing a work party to cut down a tree in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea, in an area known as a Joint Security Area (JSA) that is manned by soldiers from North Korea, South Korea, and the United States. Digging Deeper The JSA is a post set up to monitor the DMZ by both sides in the Korean conflict to ensure a safe border and prevent dangerous incidents.  The United Nations observers…

A Brief History On August 18, 1945, Indonesia, now the world’s 4th most populous country (and the largest island nation) inaugurated Sukarno as the nation’s first president.  Indonesia had just received their independence the day before this historic event. Digging Deeper Indonesia had been a colony of the Netherlands since 1800, after a two hundred year period of gradual hegemony.  A source of natural resources such as oil, nutmeg, cloves, tin, copper and gold, Indonesia was a prize highly valued by industrialized nations, a fact that led the Japanese to invade and conquer the islands during World War II.  The…

A Brief History On August 18, 1587, Virginia Dare was born in the Roanoke Colony in what is now North Carolina.  Each year the current residents of Roanoke Island celebrate her birthday with an Elizabethan Renaissance Festival. Digging Deeper Whereas the date of death is often known for many famous people throughout history, their births were mostly insignificant and thus not recorded.  For Virginia the exact opposite is true.  As the first child born to English settlers on the North American continent, her birth is important.  This is largely where her story also ends.  In fact it is unknown if and when…

 A Brief History On August 18, 1920, the United States ratified the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.  This move gave American women the right to vote, also known as women’s suffrage.  Women have always struggled to be treated as equals to men, both under the law and in common practice.  Here we list 10 of the laws, inventions or events that have helped bring equality to the sexes.  The emphasis is on American history.  Digging Deeper 10.  1st Co-ed College in the United States (Oberlin), 1837. Not only was this Ohio college the first to admit women on a regular…

A Brief History On August 18, 1612, the trials of the “Pendle Witches” began in England.  22 years later to the day, across the Channel in France, Urbain Grandier was convicted of sorcery and burned alive.  Apparently the 18th of August is not a good day to be a witch in Europe, at least not back in the 17th century. Digging Deeper The 12 accused witches of Pendle Hill in Lancashire, England were suspected of having used witchcraft to murder 10 people.  One of the accused died in prison,  and of the 11 who went to trial (two men and nine…